WHO WE ARE

Our beat is the labor front, broadly defined, both geographically and conceptually. We examine the world of work and workers on the job as well as where they live. We examine the issues that affect their everyday lives, with a particular sensitivity towards human rights abuses, environmental concerns and the U.S. drive for global domination. We record their global struggles and provide analysis of their efforts to empower themselves and transform society to provide greater democratic, human, social, political and economic rights. Each program consists of feature stories, generally interviews, within a historical context, often accompanied by sound from demonstrations, rallies or conferences, and complemented and enhanced by poetry and instrumental or vocal -- people's culture.

Over the years Building Bridges has produced a weekly one hour program, Mondays from 7-8 PM EST, covering local, national and international labor and community issues over radio WBAI-Pacifica 99.5 FM in New York.We also produce half hour version, Building Bridges National, which is distribtued to over 40 broadcast and internet radio stations.

For more information you can contact us at knash@igc.org
In Struggle
Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash

As legal
experts continue to deconstruct the “not guilty” verdict in the George Zimmerman trial — the man accused of murdering Trayvon
Martin — an ugly truth rears its head again: racial disparities are alive
and well in our criminal justice system. “In truth, when African-American boys and
men are killed by non- blacks, more often than not, justice will not be
served. Trayvon Martin is the latest name on a long list of African-American men and
boys whose non-black killers escaped justice in America's courts — a
list that runs from Emmett Till to Amadou Diallo to Oscar Grant to Sean Bell.
Meanwhile, "Justice for Trayvon" rallies and vigils continue to be
held throughout the country.

Building Bridges brings you highlights of
the New York City rally, where the Rev. Al Sharpton demanded that the Justice
Department pursue a federal civil rights case against Zimmerman and called for
a rollback of stand-your-ground self-defense laws. Martin's mother,
Sybrina Fulton, also spoke to the New York crowd. "Today it was my son.
Tomorrow it might be yours," she said.

Prison Inmates Hunger Strike for Their LiveswithDelores Canales, member of California Families to Abolish SolitaryConfinement (Cfasc), Advisory Board of CURB (Californians United fora Responsible Budget) and LWSGI (Lives Worth Saving GangIntervention), mother of a Pelican Bay SHU prisonerandCarol Strickman, attorney, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children,member of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition, member ofthe team mediating between the prison hunger strikers and risonauthorities, and part of the litigation team in Ashker v. Brown, a casechallenging solitary confinement in California prisons

Nearly 29,000 inmates in California state prisons have efused meals during aprotest of prison conditions and rules. The protest extended to two-thirds of the33 prisons across the state and all 4 private out-of-state facilities whereCalifornia sends inmates. Thousands of prisoners also refused to attend theirwork assignments and state officials are bracing for a long-term strike. Theprotest is centered on the state’s aggressive solitary confinement practices, buthas attracted support from many prisoners with their own demands for changesin prison conditions.http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesCaPrisonInmatesHungerStrikeForTheirLivesplay stream

"Street Action" is the Kernel of Revolution”Egypt’s Second RevolutionwithAtef Said, Egyptian human rights lawyer and scholar, author of twobooks about torture in Egypt, currently working on his dissertationabout the Egyptian revolutionandSherief Gaber, Mosireen Independent Media Collective in CairoWhat is the Egyptian revolution if not "street action", the ability to expressyourself and be heard said Bassem Youssef a popular Egyptian satirist onhis popular show “Al Bernameg,” of the growth of the grass-roots Tamarrodmovement. Just as with the 2011 revolution, this "second revolution" beganwith youth activists, and now has spread like wildfire through the population. The Egyptian revolution is far from over and we’ll go on the ground live toEgypt to ferret out the forces that comprise the Tamarrod movement,examine the civil stratification in the wake of deposed present Morsi failure in leading Egypt on a democratic path, parse out the role historically andcurrently of the Egyptian military and determine the promise of a revolutionthat is far from over.http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesEgyptsSecondRevolution

How The
Supreme Court Gave Go Ahead For Re-segregating and How We Can Fix
It?withDamon Hewitt, Dir., Education Practice Group, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (“LDF”)andRyan Haygood, Director
of the, Political Participation Group, LDFThe Supreme Court
gutted a key voter protection, stepped up scrutiny of race in college entry
and made it more difficult to sue for workplace discrimination. For
African-Americans, the politics and public policy that make for a more
humane & equitable society remains elusive. Despite the hardship and
struggles that African-Americans face, there are many who oppose the
correction of the disparities still rooted deeply in American life and the promise of equality. We’ll examine what happened, what’s likely as a
result of these collection of decisions, and how we fix it!

Newark's
South Ward Councilman and principal at Central High School, long-time activist
and son of poet/activists Amina & Imamu Amiri Baraka wants to become Newark,
New Jersey's 39th mayor. Baraka explained "I would have been comfortable staying
in the City Council a lot can be accomplished there, but Mayor [Corey] Booker is
making a run for the Senate; and our city is at a crossroads. The plan is for me
to run for mayor." With 50 % of Newark residents living below the poverty line,
and with an unemployment rate of 29% we'll find out how candidate Baraka
believes he can "transfer the city's resources to benefit" everyday working
people.

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BUILDING BRIDGES BASICS

Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report is broadcast weekly in the N.Y.C. to the Metropolitan area over WBAI, Pacifica on Mondays from 7-8 PM EST. Building Bridges and most WBAI Programs are now being archived for 90 Days. They are also being PodCast. These links will be live ca. 15 minutes after the program ends. To listen, download or PodCast archived shows go to http://archive.wbai.org/allshows.php?sort=nameaz

We also produce half hour version, Building Bridges National, Edition which is distributed to over 40 broadcast and internet radio stations.

Minding Business, a semi-monthly on-line publication of the Preamble Collaborative. Minding Business covers grassroots progressive activism and major federal, state, and local legislative initiatives directed toward increasing employment and countering the anti-worker, anti-consumer and anti-environmental shenanigans of corporations and their friends in political office. Each issue also contains economic news and editorials by Preamble staff and guest writers.

National Interfaith Committee For Worker Justice- people of faith who educate, organize, and mobilize the religious community in the U.S. on issues and campaigns that will improve wages, benefits, and working conditions for workers, especially low-wage workers.